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Bon Jovi "Have a Nice Day" Concert Review

Bon Jovi "Have a Nice Day" Concert Review



February 8, 2006, 7:30 PM. Bilo Center Greenville, SC .Bon Jovi live!

Flashback to 1987I first saw Bon Jovi back then, when I was just 17. It was the first concert I had ever attended; also the first time I ever caught a whiff of pot. ;) Not goodI slept most of the day away in school the next day! It was Bon Jovi and Cinderella and it was a general admission concert. This meant me and my friends stood in line for hours to buy tickets before we got to see the concert. Then we had to fight the mad rush to get in and get a good spot. We got 3rd row standing but moved after 12 girls ( that we saw) passed out from being crushed by the crowd before the first song was over.

The show was amazing and unreal to me back then. I was actually in the same vicinity as these rock gods who adorned the walls of my bedroom back home! I was too poor to have money for even a T-shirt to bring home but I did save my ticket stub. To this day, I still have that ticket stub and it is among my most prized possessions. J

Flash forward to 2006. It is with wariness that I attend a concert of one of my previous rock idols who I saw in my younger days .I am always afraid that they somehow won't live up to what I may have built them up to be in my memories. Plus, I admit to wondering how Richie Sambora would be holding up, considering he and Heather Locklear had just split up. I need not have worried!

I attended the concert with my boyfriend Thomas and two friends from high school, one of whom I attended my first Bon Jovi concert with!
We took our seats and fidgeted through some unknown opening band. Then the stage was rearranged and the lights went down to come back up moments later. The anticipation in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. All eyes were on the stage as the spotlights shown down. The entire band was there but no Jon! Screams began and I looked for the source of the excitement. A spotlight came on and shone down into the audience onto Jon who began the opening song from the sound stage down on the ground floor! The opening song was from the brand new album "Have a Nice Day"; it was called "Last Man Standing". This song sums up the feeling and mood of the concert perfectly.



"Last Man Standing"

Come see a living, breathing spectacle
Only seen right here
It's your last chance in this lifetime
The line forms at the rear
You won't believe your eyes
Your eyes will not believe your ears
Get your money out, get ready
Step right up, yeah you, come here

You ain't seen nothing like him
He's the last one of the breed
You better hold on to your honey
Honeys, don't forget to breathe
Enter at your own risk, mister
It might change the way you think
There's no dancers, there's no diamonds
No this boy he don't lip synch

[Chorus]
Here's the last man standing
Step right up, he's the real thing
The last chance of a lifetime
Come and see, hear, feel, the real thing

See those real live calloused fingers
Wrapped around those guitar strings
Kiss the lips we heard his linger
It breaks the heart to hear him sing
The songs were more than music They were pictures from the soul
So keep your pseudo-punk, hip-hop, pop-rock junk
And your digital downloads

[Chorus]

Take your seats now, folks. It's show time.
Hey, Patrick hit the lights
There's something in the air
There's magic in the night
Now here's the band, they really play
I'll count the first one in
I don't know where it's going
We all know where it's been

[Chorus x2]

After this opening song, Jon moved onto the main stage with the rest of the band and the show continued to rock on! The audience was taken on a trip down memory lane while we relived songs from the past. Songs from as far back as the album titled simply Bon Jovi all the way up to Have a Nice Day were played.

The set list was as follows:



LAST MAN STANDING
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
COMPLICATED
BORN TO BE MY BABY
STORY OF MY LIFE
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD
RUNAWAY
THE RADIO SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT
NOVOCAINE
I WON'T BACK DOWN (tom petty cover as intro to...)
HAVE A NICE DAY
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
IT'S MY LIFE
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU (acoustic)
BLAZE OF GLORY (acoustic)
BED OF ROSES (acoustic)
BAD MEDICINE
RAISE YOUR HANDS
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

encores:
IN THESE ARMS
EVERYDAY
CAPTAIN CRASH & THE BEAUTY QUEEN FROM MARS
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE


For a couple of songs, the lights went down and came back up to find Jon somewhere in the audience singing. The fans went crazy but Jon handled it all so well. He smiled and grasped hands with so many fans before being assisted back to stage by security. As he sang Bed of Roses, ladies were being pulled off him the whole time. One spunky little old lady even smacked his butt! I will admit that when he appeared in the audience semi-close to the section I was in; I was standing in my seat even while wearing boots with a heel. It's a wonder I didn't break my leg. Do you have any idea how hard it is to jump up and down in a concert seat that wanted to fold up on you?!

Living on a Prayer was played and the band left the stage. Excitement mounted and a few clueless fans actually left. The rest of us began to stomp our feet, cheer and wave lighters. In a few moments, the band reappeared (with Jon wearing a Panthers jersey) and performed 4 more songs, to the delight and relief of the audience. The show closed with Bon Jovi's anthem Wanted Dead or Alive. For those few magical hours, time traveled back and I could remember the band(and myself) as we were in the 80s-long, wild hair and tight leather pants ...yes, their hair is now shorter and their clothes not as wild but they can still pack the house and rock out!


***Note: My pictures taken at the show did not come out. These pictures are used with permission of my friend artist Donna Antonucci who took them at a previous concert in NY. Thank you Donna! :)